All-rounder Krunal Pandya smashed a quickfire 41 off 22 balls as Mumbai Indians recovered from a poor start to post a challenging 165 for 4 against Chennai Super Kings in the opening encounter of the 11th edition of Indian Premier League.
Mumbai Indians were struggling at 20 for 2 after openers Evin Lewis (0) and skipper Rohit Sharma (15) were dismissed cheaply on a track that assisted seamers.
A 78-run-third wicket stand between Suryakumar Yadav (43 in 29 balls) and Ishan Kishan (40 off 29 balls) put MI back on track before Pandya brothers Krunal and Hardik added 52 in 5.2 overs to take their team past 16--run mark.
Krunal stuck two boundaries and a six in the17th over as he punished Mark Woods (0/49 in 4 overs), who conceded 19 runs. He kept on hitting the odd balls and was aided by Hardik.
Krunal was in his element as he again punished Woods hitting two boundaries and a six in the 19th over, which fetched them another 17 runs.
Asked to bat in front of a capacity crowd, right-arm seamer Deepak Chahar trapped Lewis in front of the wicket with an outswinger (inswinger for the left-hander)
Debutant Lewis used the DRS, the first in the IPL's history, but the decision remained in CSK's favour.
Skipper Rohit as usual struggled against the moving delivery due to lack of feet movement as Shane Watson removed him when he top edged one to Ambati Rayudu.
Surya and Kishan then steered the team out of trouble with the runs coming in 52 balls. Surya made his intentions clear by striking a four and six off Watson in the sixth over.
Kishan, then stuck two boundaries and six off Imran Tahir, as Mumbai amassed 18 runs in the 11th over. Then Surya, who got a life on 34, hammered Dwayne Bravo for three consecutive fours in the 12th over. But as they looked good for a big total, Watson struck again removing Surya with a bouncer and Kishan was caught at short third-man off Tahir.
For CSK, veteran Watson (2-29) was the pick of the bowlers.
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